Robert Brink - Writer

Too Hot For etnies Vol. 2: April Fools!

February 21, 2006 | Skip To The Comments (3)

My April Fool's Day prank on the Lake Forest-area skateboard masses is one of my favorite posts to get banned from etnies.com.

I posted this story, left the office for the evening and got a phonecall on my way home that it was deleted because, evidently, the Lake Forest City Hall received an abundance of angry phonecalls and emails from concerned/pissed/sad children and parents who feared they were losing their beloved skatepark. The city contacted etnies somewhat freaking, which in turn had etnies people freaking, which lead to the deletion of the post.

It seems no one can take a joke anymore. Not even within our skateboarding community on April Fool's Day. So much for having a little fun without behind-the-scenes politics getting in the way. A few people in the "industry" who actually matter to me, as well as a ton of people at etnies (but don't ask me why it was still deleted then), were very complimentary of the prank and TransWorld Business ended up putting a few paragraphs on it in their news section of the mag the following month.

Here's the post as it appeared on April 1, 2005:

R.I.P.

They say "no news is good news." And unfortunately, this is real bad news. The skatepark that etnies helped to build in conjuntion with the city of Lake Forest will be closing its doors in 90 days.

"There have been far too many injuries, acts of vandalism, fights between the skateboarders and the BMX riders over who gets to be in the park and when, and complaints from the surrounding businesses of litter, noise, broken windows and other behavior that this city can and will not tolerate," said one city official yesterday at a local meeting at town hall.

June 30 will be the last day the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest will be operational. The following day the gates will be locked and all the obstacles will be skate-proofed. Demolition of the park is slated to begin in August 2005 and plans for a proposed community garden and dog park are being pushed through local legislation with much enthusiasm.

etnies is currently working on an agressive plan with the skateboard media, fellow skateboard companies, residents of Lake Forest and skateboarders around the world to prevent losing the park. Stay tuned to etnies.com for updates and we will keep you informed on how to help and what to do as soon as we can provide the proper info to you.